Multivariate analysis of anthropometric data and classifications of British Columbian natives

Abstract

Anthropometric data collected in native populations of British Columbia in the late 19th century by Franz Boas were analyzed by two multivariate techniques. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test physical classificatory units devised by Boas and an ad hoc classification based on local cultural units. Both were found to have some empirical validity. Mahalanobis' D (Mahalanobis, '30) was computed between pairs of local groups, for both sexes. From these a matrix of differences was prepared and diagrams drawn to illustrate phenetic relationships among samples. By this means one cluster of groups, Interior B. C. peoples, could be distinguished and other local samples appeared distinctly different from each other. It was concluded that in the absence of genealogical data by which to identlfy local populations, local cultural units are preferable to more inclusive units for making empirical comparisons and classifications.In the last decade of the 19th century Franz Boas (1891, 1895, 1898, Boas and Farrand, 1898) carried out a series of studies of the native peoples of British Columbia on behalf of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. These studies included anthropometric data. Based on these data and on impressions from many years of contact with the Northwest Coast Indians, Boas developed a classification which, according to the typological framework of the period, was stated in terms of physical types. In the final version (Boas, 1898) he defined three physical types: the Northern, typified by the Haida and the Tsimshian; the Kwakiutl, represented by the Bella Coola and the Kwakiutl; and the Thompson River type, exemplified by the Lillooet and the Thompson River Indians. This classification omitted many populations which Boas did not feel that he could define or subsume within the three named groups.Since Boas published the anthropometric data he collected, including Jhe subject's age, parents' village and linguistic group, it is possible to apply contemporary methods of analysis to the data in order to test specific hypotheses or to develop classifications. In this paper we are describing a research project in which both of these were done.Though obvious, it is necessary to discuss briefly the theoretical framework within which Boas worked. It was assumed that many physical characteristics (such as a broad head, a high nose) were inherited as unit traits (Boas, '03). Further, sets of traits were believed to be associated with groups of people; in effect physical types were conceived as sets of traits that characterized specific populations. Populational homogeneity was considered the rule; if intragroup heterogeneity was found it was assumed to be the result of a recent mixing of populations. Within this framework, empirical data could be used to suggest physical types or to substantiate types already conceived but could not be used directly to develop empirical classifications. Of course, there were no appropriate statistics available for this purpose.For his time, Boas was ...

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